


Dark Yearning

by DktrAgonizer



Category: The Darkness (Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 18:56:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2866682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DktrAgonizer/pseuds/DktrAgonizer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This time, Johnny hopes nobody comes to find him in his box under the bridge - or does he? Takes place some time after the events of the second game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dark Yearning

He didn’t expect anybody to come by. Nobody ever came by, except maybe on a trash pickup sweep or something equally trivial and stupid. Those people didn’t like him much; maybe they thought his box was an eyesore. That and the paper cups he’d leave strewn about because, well, because he was going to throw them away sooner or later but the issue - the _issue_ \- was the lack of a trash can, wasn’t it?

Every once in a while some other homeless bum or two would come by, but they’d all be driven away by his raving anyway. Not a one of them wanted to stay and listen to ol’ Johnny Powell’s crazy claims, of course not. Mark of a madman, they said! Scare the children, they said!

Except they never said that last bit because there would never be any children about but that, that was all beside the point really.

But apart from that, from _all_ of that, he never expected anybody to come by. And that was just fine, that was what he wanted. He didn’t want anybody to come around and find him, not again. Not after last time.

Part of him reasoned that they found him here in his box once and they could find him again. But no, no, Jackie was gone now. His gang was in a fucking disarray after he got dragged to Hell and Johnny bolted at the first opportunity. Sure, with Jackie gone that meant the Darkness was gone, but the Darkness would never be gone for long. The first evil, the first _being_ of the universe couldn’t just be trapped forever. It would find a way out eventually, and Johnny didn’t want to be around when it did.

Not that trying to hide would do any good, not really, but what else was he supposed to do? Sit around with his thumbs up his ass while the Franchetti crime family wrestled over the new don? What if the Darkness found a way back - what if _Jackie_ found a way back - and they took out their anger on him? Him, the occultist who should have an answer for everything! Because he knew how this shit worked, right? Right?

Wrong. He didn’t know too much more than the rest of them, truth be told. Sure, he knew the history behind those Darkness artifacts more than anybody else, but how could they expect him to know what to do to pull a man wielding the first evil back out of Hell and prepare him to fight the Angelus, its mortal enemy?

No, he didn’t want to be a part of that game, not anymore. No sirree; he was content with sitting in his little cardboard box under the Queensboro Bridge, living off of dollar menus and hand-outs for the rest of his life. Just as long as he didn’t have to listen to that sensual dark _whispering_ anymore, the tendrils of its voice slithering through his mind like, like -

It was cold out. Johnny let out a deep breath and watched the fog curl into the air in front of him. His hands lay on his thighs, his fingers curling inward to dig into the flesh through the fabric. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks despite the chilly air.

Some part of him missed it. Some deep, dark part of him missed being near Jackie and all those Darkness-touched artifacts and god damn it some part of him wanted to go back, wanted to be around it all again. If he could just hear that voice in his head once more, telling him of its plans for the world, for the family, for _him_ -

His fingers dug in deeper. No, he couldn’t allow himself to go back. It’d do nothing but rattle his already fading sanity. And the people... He knew the way people looked at him, with a mixture of sympathy and disgust. Even Jackie goddamn Estacado looked at him that way sometimes, although Johnny was convinced the man didn’t give a single shit about his existence so long as he told Jackie what he wanted to hear. Sure, he helped Jackie with the Darkness, but what’d he get in return? A continually fracturing mind and a really, _really_ low paycheck. (Did he even get his last one? He couldn’t remember.)

Fuck. Maybe he really should move out from under the bridge. If somebody from the Franchetti family came for him again, he wouldn’t be able to say “no” - not that they gave him a choice last time.

Johnny breathed out again, raising one hand to rub viciously on his heated cheeks. What a goddamn nuisance. It was going to be a chore to find a better spot than this. And he’d have to cart that box along with him, too, wouldn’t he? Great.

Casting his eyes to the darkening sky, he made a decision. If nobody came back for him by evening tomorrow, then he would move. Otherwise... Well, he’d just have to see what they had in store for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Consider leaving a comment letting me know your thoughts; I'd love to read them!


End file.
